we play the giants on december 9th...we play the panthers on deceber 30th

we catch some teams coming off of Mon nite, but we also face ATL coming off a Monday night, and then draw the Thur. game, which no one likes

Thank God they broke up the road schedule from last season. We need the Dome to reboot.

Swings and roundabouts. Depends how any player suspensions play out.

Play in Winter, possibly play without suspended players. Tough to call.

Dome crowd, over rated? What game was that, and was it a night game like I was talking about? The Saints clinched the wild card berth in 2010 on the road, when they beat the Falcons in Atlanta.

True, but the same goes for any injuries teams might suffer during the length of the season, so it's impossible to know beforehand what would be the ideal time in the season to play a certain team.

I just know that cold weather games do not have the ideal conditions for the Saints' offense, so that is one thing that won't work against them in a early season match up.

Also, I think that the suspensions will be very limited in the end, so I don't expect them to have as big of an impact on the Saints' season as the initial punishments on staff personnel and the franchise.

Of course, Goodell can certainly prove me wrong. ;-)

Which is what Goodell will do exactly what yo dont expect. No reason to think He will not be an Ahole concerning the players but he does not have the proof that anyone was hurt so it is not going to be easy for Him now.

I just hate that our bye week is so early.
We've got 11 games after the rest.
I'm more concerned about a 3/4 peak and having nothing left at the end.

Not sure about a 3/4 peak, but any player suspensions that may be ongoing at that point of the season could keep an "Us against the World" vibe going on with the team.

No way to tell until the regular season starts...